Settings are accessed
via the Settings bar. Think of the Settings bar as the “Control Panel’s
greatest hits.” Microsoft has grouped the customizations and
personalizations they think you will use the most into categories. These
settings are meant to set you free from the clickety-clack of
keyboards—fingers rule.
The first disabled link underneath the
Settings bar title tells you where you accessed the Settings bar from.
In the tile-based interface, you get just a few settings to play with.
The tile-based interface is supposed to be simple, so there’s very
little to change here.
The Tiles settings allow you to show more tiles, up to a display that is 6 x 8. The extra
two rows of tiles are quite useful on the large displays typically used
on PCs but not useful on phones or tablets.
The Tiles settings for the tile-based interface
The Desktop has many more settings that are
useful to you.
The icons in the Settings
bar perform simple but essential system functions. Depending on the type
of device you are using, you may find some of the icons grayed out.
• Network. Tap this icon to view the status of your network connection.
• Volume. Tap this icon for a slider that adjusts your system volume.
• Brightness. Tap this icon for a slider that adjusts your display brightness.
• Notifications. Tap this icon for a pop-up menu that lets you hide notifications for 1, 3, or 8 hours.
• Power. Tap this icon for a pop-up menu that lets you put your device to sleep, shut it down, or restart it.
• Keyboard. Tap this icon to show or hide the virtual onscreen keyboard.
The Power icon’s placement does make me
wonder. Microsoft has hidden away your system’s on/off button inside a
secondary toolbar, and you have to ask yourself why. I suspect it’s
because Microsoft believes that most of the devices of the future
(phones and tablets) will simply go to sleep when they aren’t in use,
and users won’t be using the Power button much.
To show a group of utilities that manage Windows 8
Tap or click the Show Administrative Tools slider to turn it on .
The Show Administrative Tools setting adds the tile group on the right to the tile-based interface.
To reset the tile-based interface to its default values
Tap the Default button.
To access the Settings bar
• Swipe in from the right edge of your display, press 
+C to open the Charms bar , and tap or click the Settings charm. The settings bar appears .
The Settings charm gives access to the Settings bar.
• Move the cursor into the upper-right corner of your display and then move down to view the Charms bar . Tap or click the Settings charm .
The Settings bar in the tile-based interface (left) and the Desktop (right)
• Press +I.
Tip
There are other places from which you can shut
down your system: Use the Lock screen’s Power icon, or make the Desktop
active and press Alt+F4. Laptop and tablet users can use the Power
Options control panel to enable the physical Power button on the device.
Tip
The Help link leads you to the Windows Help and Support system.
